conanthelibrarian

lifedoutcobra

I have the 300 series with the same chest strap and transmitter, and it works amazingly. I paid around 90 for it off amazon as a set, but for the next step up this one looks nice. I've never had any problems with it, its very accurate and has plenty of options. I'm an entry to mid level runner/athlete and it more than suites my needs. Being able to monitor you're heart rate is a must for intelligent training. If you're on the fence about this one, go for it!

lwang

I've always used heart rate monitor of various types for cycling or spinning and it works pretty well. But when I use them on the treadmill and on my intervals, the heartrate goes all over the place, sometimes maxing out at 230, other times going at around 1/2 my actual heartrate.

lifedoutcobra

lwang wrote:I've always used heart rate monitor of various types for cycling or spinning and it works pretty well. But when I use them on the treadmill and on my intervals, the heartrate goes all over the place, sometimes maxing out at 230, other times going at around 1/2 my actual heartrate.

Are these reliable when the strap is bouncing around a bit?

Mine is very reliable. I use it from outdoor/treadmill running to martial arts sparring and it remains very consistent. Also the tread mills at my gym just happen to be compatible (i cant remember the brand) with them and they sink up automatically. I've found that the reading on the treadmill can be inconsistent though due to interference from whatever source. But my watch has always been accurate.

giolee88

lwang

lifedoutcobra wrote:Mine is very reliable. I use it from outdoor/treadmill running to martial arts sparring and it remains very consistent. Also the tread mills at my gym just happen to be compatible (i cant remember the brand) with them and they sink up automatically. I've found that the reading on the treadmill can be inconsistent though due to interference from whatever source. But my watch has always been accurate.

Mine syncs up with the gym equipments too, and they differ by something like 2-3bpm. When the transmitter signal becomes inaccurate, it is inaccurate on both my watch and the treadmill. Since I am usually in the middle of an interval and gasping for breath, I don't have time to fiddle with the strap and instead grab the heart rate grips to continue to see how high it goes until my interval is over, but then, my recorded avg and max heart rate becomes all off.

khealey

hcir

I have a Polar FT4, which I got recently from Amazon for about $65. It seems to do an excellent job of measuring my heart-rate. Everything else seems to work ok, but I do wonder about the algorithms used to calculate burned calories based on heart-rate. I'm going to presume that they both use the same one. My FT4 says that I burn 900 calories from an hour of cycling. That seems a tad high to me.

inthelead

I am a cyclist, not runner, so may be different for runners. For me, it would be better if bluetooth capable so you could use with various training apps on your phone. That is the direction a lot of this is headed.

crisdopher

I owned this (and the footpod) several years ago. Overall, the system works well. It recorded very accurate splits races and as far as I could see, the chest strap was the most comfortable available. I never had problems with erroneous HR readings. And once the footpod was dialed in, it too was very accurate.

However - it becomes a lot to juggle and make sure batteries are fresh. And syncing with a computer requires a PC or PC-emulator on a Mac. That just became way too much effort me after a while, especially due to the (at the time) poor quality of the graphs and charts.

Ultimately, I sold the entire set, loaded Runkeeper on my smartphone and haven't looked back since. If I ever want to go back to tracking my HR, Runkeeper can even do that, too, now, with the right chest strap. I just don't see the need anymore for a separate running watch with proprietary footpod, chest strap, and software to do what clipping my iPhone to my belt can do.

Which easily explains the massive price cut - because I can't be the only one thinking like this.

dsclothe

Polar is the best of the HR monitors, but w/o gps or Bluetooth, their product is five to seven years behind the curve, and too pricey even at this price. Check out som products from Soleus, Suunto, Garmin. Though I'm not sure watches have Bluetooth yet--anyone? Oh, and the pain w/ Bluetooth can be that you have to carry your phone while exercising. Problem for some but not all.

PatentDude

If you have an iPhone or Android, you may be better served getting the Polar H7 and using the Bluetooth connectivity to give the heartrate to an app on the iPhone (e.g. Nike running, RunKeeper, etc.). It's ~$60 at Amazon.

theroseknows

FWIW, my doctor runs marathons/triathlons, and monitors his heart rate with his fingers and a $5 watch. He says if there was a better piece of equipment for doing it, that is what the hospitals would use.

Strick28

Why would one need gadgets strapped to their body while working out? Been working out for years and never needed to know my heart rate. How can one work out with ear buds in their ears and this strapped to them?

hcir

Strick28 wrote:Why would one need gadgets strapped to their body while working out? Been working out for years and never needed to know my heart rate. How can one work out with ear buds in their ears and this strapped to them?

Studies have shown that you burn more (edit: fat) calories when you are within 50-75% of the difference between your resting and maximum heart-rate. A heart-rate monitor (such as the ones made by Polar) calculates a "zone" in which to keep your heart rate so that you can maximize the calories that you burn. I try to keep at the upper end of the zone. I know from looking at my heart-rate whether I need to slow down or put in more effort. It has made a real difference to the way that I cycle. It does not interfere with earbuds or mp3 devices.

millerfrog

ennisv

I was looking to order this to enhance my running. Under further investigation, it looks like I would have to buy an S1 Footpod in order to know my pace, distance, etc., and to transfer the info to my computer, I would have to buy an IrDA USB adapter. They are $100 and $40 respectively on Amazon. That brings the total up to $270. The Polar RS400SD has the computer, footpod, and IrDA USB adapter as a package and costs $247 on Amazon.

alextse

hcir wrote:Studies have shown that you burn more calories when you are within 50-75% of the difference between your resting and maximum heart-rate. A heart-rate monitor (such as the ones made by Polar) calculates a "zone" in which to keep your heart rate so that you can maximize the calories that you burn. I try to keep at the upper end of the zone. I know from looking at my heart-rate whether I need to slow down or put in more effort. It has made a real difference to the way that I cycle. It does not interfere with earbuds or mp3 devices.

The higher your heart rate the more calories you are burning. However, those calories can be burnt off as sugars/carbs/fat or protein. You need oxygen to burn the sugars/carbs/fats so the goal is to maximize your aerobic heart rate without tipping over to anerobic exercise. A heart rate monitor is perfect for this.

On a separate note, when younger, I use to routinely run for 30 minutes on a treadmill at 185+ BPM. Tipping over into anerobic exercise is a trip, you go from hyperventilating to suddenly being able to have a normal conversation while going even faster! But it's not very good for you.

jclarkin

I find the accuracy really suffers when the strap isn't tight enough or when it is too dry. The second issue can be fixed with electrode gel or cheaper, some salt water to get the strap and your skin wet before exercising. Once you start sweating, things are usually okay as long as the strap is tight.

notalwaysso

wvarta

theroseknows wrote:FWIW, my doctor runs marathons/triathlons, and monitors his heart rate with his fingers and a $5 watch. He says if there was a better piece of equipment for doing it, that is what the hospitals would use.

It is possible to find ones HR with a $5 watch in a doctors office but I doubt your doctor is taking the time to do this during a race and still be racing at a fast pace and find it accurately. When your Doctor misses out on qualifying for Boston, maybe the time he spent finding his HR cost him valuable time. The RS400 and the Protrainer 5 software provides data that a doctor would love and could reveal his running patients history on avg hr, times in zones hard and recovery days etc.

hcir

alextse wrote:The higher your heart rate the more calories you are burning. However, those calories can be burnt off as sugars/carbs/fat or protein. You need oxygen to burn the sugars/carbs/fats so the goal is to maximize your aerobic heart rate without tipping over to anerobic exercise. A heart rate monitor is perfect for this.

On a separate note, when younger, I use to routinely run for 30 minutes on a treadmill at 185+ BPM. Tipping over into anerobic exercise is a trip, you go from hyperventilating to suddenly being able to have a normal conversation while going even faster! But it's not very good for you.

litey

wvarta wrote:It is possible to find ones HR with a $5 watch in a doctors office but I doubt your doctor is taking the time to do this during a race and still be racing at a fast pace and find it accurately. When your Doctor misses out on qualifying for Boston, maybe the time he spent finding his HR cost him valuable time. The RS400 and the Protrainer 5 software provides data that a doctor would love and could reveal his running patients history on avg hr, times in zones hard and recovery days etc.

is his name DR LowTech ? Does he use a rolled up piece of paper instead of a stethoscope ?

ih8mud

theroseknows wrote:FWIW, my doctor runs marathons/triathlons, and monitors his heart rate with his fingers and a $5 watch. He says if there was a better piece of equipment for doing it, that is what the hospitals would use.

so he stops and checks his heart rate every 100 yards?
seems to be it would be much more fluid to just look at your wrist.
keep calm
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